Instructional Shift 09

Instructional Shift 9: Embed the mathematics in realistic problems and real-world contexts.

Chapter 10: Putting It All in Context

• Facilitate a departmental, grade level or content team discussion focused around responses to the following question:
  • In what ways are we taking into account our students lives and interests when developing activities for the classroom?
• As a content team, set a goal to select a unit to develop a thematic, real-world center unit of instruction. Create a real-world problem or scenario that students will need to use the skills/unit objectives to be able to solve. Introduce the problem at the beginning of the unit and have students develop understandings each day in order to solve the problem.
• Provide opportunities for student choice--allow students to select from an option of projects or real-world investigations. Students could also have the choice as to how the project is completed and submitted.

• Have your team develop purposeful objectives that not only list the content objective, but also include an intentional focus on analysis of the data/situation.
• Ask students to discuss reasonableness of their solution or future prediction.

• Facilitate a team discussion on when and where the skills taught are used in the real-world. Generate a list of applications and have teachers begin the lesson with an applicable scenario.
• Allow students to research which careers use the skills taught in class. Have students present their findings in a presentation, report, web poster, etc.